(March 19, 2012, New York, NY)—Random House Children’s Books will now be the primary book publisher of Nickelodeon properties, it was announced jointly today by Chip Gibson, President and Publisher of Random House Children’s Books, and Paula K. Allen, Senior Vice President, Nickelodeon Global Publishing. Beginning spring 2013, the publishing program with Nickelodeon will expand to include a variety of new formats, including hardcover and paperback picture books, storybooks, leveled readers, chapter books, Junior Novels, and board books. Random House will continue publishing the coloring and activity books and Little Golden Book titles published since 2000 and 2009, respectively. These books are based on Nickelodeon properties, including SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer, Team Umizoomi, and Bubble Guppies.

“Random House Children’s Books has had a long and fruitful relationship with Nickelodeon,” says Gibson. “We are delighted to broaden our publishing partnership with them.”

“The continued success of SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer, Team Umizoomi, and Bubble Guppies has given us tremendous opportunity to develop engaging reading experiences and extend the storytelling and educational curriculum featured in our programming,” said Allen. “We are also looking forward to the addition of a publishing program for exciting new properties like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Winx Club.”

Chris Angelilli, Vice President & Editor-in-Chief, Executive Director, Licensed Publishing, will oversee the publishing program at Random House. With the expansion, Random House also will publish against two new properties in fall 2012—Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Winx Club. Random House was the original children’s book publisher for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the 1980s, and will now be the primary publisher for this unique property, set to be the biggest franchise launch in Nickelodeon’s history. Winx Club is Nickelodeon’s first-ever girl-targeted animated show—a modern fantasy adventure series following six fashion-forward best friends. Random House will publish a wide variety of formats based on these new properties.

“With the launch of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Winx Club this fall, Nickelodeon’s property lineup will be stronger than ever,” Angelilli says. “We’re excited about the creative opportunities these new properties and formats will bring.”